Daisies in the Canyon(14)

She awoke with a start. The water had gone lukewarm, so she pulled the plug and crawled out, goose bumps dancing down her back as she tucked a towel around her body. Shiloh stepped out into the hallway and closed her door softly, nodded at Abby, and carried her own supplies into the bathroom. In seconds, the shower was running. More country music came from Bonnie’s room; this time it was Conway singing, “Goodbye Time.” No wait a minute—that was Blake Shelton’s voice, not Conway’s.

Abby had watched the video of that song so many times it was burned in her memories. Be damned if Bonnie didn’t look like the girl in the video. Kind of rough and yet innocent at the same time when she looked up with those blue eyes. When the song ended, it started all over again. Had Bonnie said good-bye to some old boy back in Harlan, Kentucky, to come to Texas? Would he follow her?

She shut the door to her room as the song started over for the third time. Maybe it wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought. If Bonnie had given up a man for this dream of having her own ranch, she wouldn’t budge as quickly as Abby had figured. One thing for sure—it was past time for her to say that it was good-bye time to those crazy feelings that Cooper had stirred up, so maybe the song was as much to her as it was to Bonnie.

Sleep was slow to come to Abby and then it was fitful, the nightmares returning to haunt her. At midnight she sat straight up in bed, eyes wide-open, pulse and heartbeat in competition to see which one could pound the loudest in her ears. She couldn’t remember what she was dreaming about, only that it was terrifying. She envied the soldiers who went home to a spouse who could comfort them in times like this.

She flopped back down on her pillow and shut her eyes. Martha whined from the recliner, crossed the floor, and jumped up on the bed with Abby. She licked her face and then curled up on the foot of the bed, her head lying on Abby’s feet. That time Abby slept until five minutes before her alarm sounded; she hit the button and swung her legs out of the bed. Time for a morning run to clear her head and get her ready for the day. Run, eat, and then it would be day one of chores with Rusty.

The house was still quiet as she eased out the door. Martha dashed out the moment she opened the door and barely made it off the porch before she squatted. Abby bit back the laughter and said, “At least you were polite enough not to do that on my bed or on the carpet.”

She did a few stretches using the porch rail as a bar, and then started a slow jog down the lane. She’d run to the main road, which by her calculations was about two miles, and back. It would be a short run, but she didn’t want to miss Rusty and she didn’t think he’d wait for her. Why should he? If they all left, he inherited the ranch.

She’d barely left the yard fence behind when she realized that she had a running companion. Martha was right beside her, step for step, not getting ahead, not lagging behind, but keeping up without even letting her tongue hang out.

“At least she has manners, Mama.” Abby grinned.

They made it to the road and Abby ran in place for a minute before turning around and starting back. She didn’t plan on turning left and running down the fence line separating Malloy Ranch from Cooper’s place, but Martha herded her that way. She’d only gone fifty yards at most when suddenly Cooper was on the other side of the barbed-wire fence, jogging along with her.

“Early riser, are you?” he asked.

“Always have been. Mama had a doughnut shop that opened at five. She rousted me out of bed at three to go to work with her.” Dammit! Why did she feel compelled to tell him anything?

She focused on his shoulder nearest to her as they ran. Surely to God there wasn’t anything sexy about a shoulder, was there? Then she imagined cuddling with him on one of the porch rocking chairs, his arms around her, his lips on that tender part of her neck as her head rested on that strong shoulder.

“Me, too, only it wasn’t a doughnut shop, it was plain old ranchin’. My grandfather left this little spread to me when he passed on. He was about Ezra’s age and I grew up right here working beside him my whole life,” Cooper said.

Not many men could run and talk at the same time. She had to give him kudos for being in shape.

“Where were your parents?” Hopefully if he talked about something like his parents she’d lose this crazy infatuation.

“Right here until I was four. I don’t remember much about them. The smell of Mama’s perfume brings back a comforting feeling and sometimes it’s like I know my dad is proud of me for bein’ sheriff and keepin’ the Lucky Seven runnin’ at the same time, but other than what I see in pictures, I can’t bring them up in my mind. They were killed when the brakes on their truck gave way as they came down into the canyon from Claude,” he said.

She stopped when she could see the house against the canyon wall. He went on, but then turned and came back, running in place.

“You quittin’?” he asked.

“Time’s up. Lights are on in the house and I want to help with feeding this morning. Have a good run. Martha and I are going home now,” she said.

He nodded and took off again. Martha flopped down close to her feet to rest while she watched Cooper’s backside keep going. Lord have mercy! That cowboy even strutted when he was jogging. She might as well quit trying to erase every thought she had of him and simply realize, even though they kept returning, she wasn’t going to do anything about them.